ONE of Devon’s largest early years settings has taken the decision to shut its doors amid a row with the education regulator Ofsted.

Kingwood Children, located at Muddifords Court in Willand, took the decision to shut its doors on Thursday, June 25 in a bid to protect itself from what it claimed would be a drawn-out attempt by Ofsted to close it.

A spokesperson for the setting said parents gathered there the following day to show their support for the business and to express their frustration at Ofsted.

The spokesperson said the education regulator had called them to announce its intention to close the site, but that the setting had decided to take the decision to shut on its own terms as the “family can’t continue” to cope with the pressure.

The site, which has 118 children registered, said all would be able to move to its other site in nearby Uffculme because daily attendance at Willand is around 80 children. Because of this, the setting said its staff would all move across too.

The Ofsted inspection report from January last year rates the Uffculme site as “good” in all categories.

In April, Ofsted published an inspection report that saw Kingwood Children in Willand moved from “good” to “needs improvement”, although some parents spoke out against the negative move at the time.

It had five categories of its Ofsted assessment labelled as “needs attention” while one was flagged as needing “urgent attention”.

The setting secured “good” ratings across the board in March last year, but some complaints had prompted a renewed focus on it by the education watchdog.

However, parents claimed they didn’t recognise Ofsted’s critique, and suggested the watchdog didn’t properly understand what Kingwood Children offered and the benefits received by those who attend.

On Ofsted’s website, it has published two investigations this year into complaints. While one of those stated there had been seven complaints in a four-and-a-half month period, including in relation to safeguarding policies and procedures, it said that subsequent follow-ups showed the setting “had met the safeguarding and welfare actions” needed to prove that improvements had been made.

In April, it published an outcome that showed there had been concerns the provider was “not meeting requirements relating to safeguarding policies and procedures and whistleblowing”.

It acknowledged the setting had told Ofsted these issues had been raised, meaning it had followed proper protocol.

The regulator added a phone call in April found the setting was “not meeting some of the requirements and had taken action to put this right” by changing their procedure to ensure relevant people are informed.

Ofsted said it did not comment on individual providers, but did confirm it had previously taken regulatory action against the nursery after receiving multiple complaints and concerns about safeguarding.

“We re-inspected the nursery again on June 2 and will publish a full report in due course,” the spokesperson added.

“We were informed yesterday that the provider has closed the setting voluntarily, but it currently remains registered with Ofsted.”